


Ball of Sunshine

by Scarlet_Nin



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drama, Drunken Cross cares for his friends, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Light Angst, Nea is a little shit and a drama queen, Past Allen is so done, Past shipping, Protective Mana, Which is how Timcanpy has been made
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 22:23:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18270407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Nin/pseuds/Scarlet_Nin
Summary: Nea has always wanted a pet, but couldn't have one. But they all have their way of coping.He complains.Cross strains under all the whining. So, he reaches for his bottles of wine.Drunken decisions aren't the best ones. But if it gives him a moment of peace, Cross doesn't care. Of course, it comes back to bite him in the ass when he's sober.





	Ball of Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> I love these four. There needs to be more content of these four dorks, enough said.

_“I knew your creations and experiments have been a disaster waiting to happen, but this time, you truly outdid yourself, Cross!”_

An angry Allen is a terrifying sight. Words dripping poison, face set in stone behind those nerdy looking glasses, it’s the eyes glowering at him that make the difference. Colder than ice, hotter than the summer heat. Made of steel at their core, they remind him of a bullet ready to be shot with the flicker of a finger on the trigger of a gun. Precise and deadly.

There are few people who make his hands sweat. Staring Allen in the face, Cross’s fingers twitch for a cigarette. For his gun which he had left behind, he notices when he grips thin air at his sides.

“Giving it the ability to grow to such a size—What were you thinking? Don’t answer that. I refuse to believe you were able to form a single thought while creating this chaos!”

“I got him to stop his mopping, didn’t I? Either I’d make something to keep his mouth shut or I’d shot him and hide the damn body!” Cross snaps.

Mana throws him a glare for his words, pausing in trying to remove anything that could be broken in the room. He’s been working for the past hour to make everything childproof—or Nea proof in his case. Already being experienced in that subject, he didn’t seem to mind the on-going chaos around him.

Cross scowls and looks away.

Allen didn’t take kindly upon being talked back to. Hands moving to express what words couldn’t, they seem to want to wring his neck.

“All you have done is double the amount of debts you owe me! You could have gotten him a fish or a hamster. Even a poisonous snake would have been better than one of your drunken ideas coming to life. Look around you. My books, my documents, my whole study is a mess! You’ll pay for this.”

A promise and a threat. Cross knows he will. Appearance were deceiving. Allen may look like a scholar, all prim and proper, but anyone who has seen this fire knows they’ll get burnt. And Cross just lit himself on fire.

“Calm down, will you? Biting my head off isn’t going to reverse this.”

“I’m not going to bite your head off, perhaps your golem will.”

“You’re such a hypocrite.” Cross growls, thinking back to last night.

“And you’re an irresponsible, arrogant ass,” Allen hisses back, hands balled into fists as he held his head high, staring down his nose at Cross even if they were about the same height. “That thing can’t stay and that is final.”

“Don’t say that to me, say that to him.”

Cross inclines his head to the cause of their current predicament.

“No.”

“Nea—”

“ _No_.”

“He can’t stay here.” Allen pinches the bridge of his nose at the stubborn rejection.

Nea looks unimpressed, cradling Timcampy—of course he’d give it a weird name, none of them were surprised if they were honest—close to his chest. Lips set into a straight line, he meets Allen’s stare head on.

“He can if he behaves and he will. Isn’t that right, Tim?”

The golem nods, body flopping up and down as it pets Nea’s cheek with a wing nearly knocking him over. Allen raises an eyebrow.

“It used my books as a chew toy.”

“Tim apologized.” Nea pauses, before adding. “I’ve done worse. You know I have.”

“That doesn’t make it right. It’ll take weeks to rearrange my books. The papers I have been working on were destroyed.”

“It’s Cross’s fault. He’s the one who taught Tim his horrid manners and corrupted him.”

“What? Care to say that to my face asshole—”

“Language!” Mana cuts in, disapproval clear on his face as Nea gestures at Cross.

“See?”

“Go to hell, Campbell.”

“Cross!”

Allen clears his throat. Pushing up his glasses, he fixes Nea with a look. One Nea has seen too many times not to cringe. He pulls Timcampy, who has grown from the size of an apple to that of a large watermelon, closer into his arms.

“Tim broke a few things—” Nea was quick to correct himself at Allen’s glare. “—very _important_ things, but it’s not his fault. He didn’t do it on purpose. We’ve all broken things without meaning to. I’ll teach him how to be careful.”

“Nea…”

Seeing Allen falter at his words, Nea pursed his lips. Face growing softer as the harsh lines fade into something gentler. His voice is soft and quiet when he speaks.

“Allen, _please_.”

Hook. Line. Sinker.

“Fine, keep the golem,” Allen sighs, anger bleeding into mild irritation as he adjusts his glasses. “Just keep him away from my books.”

“Wimp.”

Cross mutters, yelping in pain when something heavy hits him in the back of his head. When he turns Mana smiles, giving him a short wave with his hand. An arm full of books as heavy as the years they were old in his other.  Cross choses to keep his mouth shut.

“Thank you, Allen.”

Nea grins, throwing his arms around his friend as Timcampy nuzzles into his arm. Allen swats at the golem, patting Nea on the shoulder before poking him. Getting the hint, Nea lets go of him and steps back. He grins from ear to ear as he turns to Timcampy.

“Tim, can you shrink down to a normal size? Also, no more putting things into your mouth and knocking them over, got it?”

The golem nods, shrinking down to his apple size, sitting down on Nea’s head.

“I think it likes your hair, Nea.”

Mana coos at them, reaching down to pick up another book, Nea doing the same as he shrugs. Cross rolls his eyes as a glare from Allen and a threating gesture of his hands gets him moving.

“I’d bet all my money that’s because it looks like a bird’s nest.”

“It’s good that you don’t have any money left to bet with then.”

Cross growls, hand tightening around the book in his hand.

“Throw my book across the room and I’ll make sure you’re going to be sober for the rest of your life, Cross.”

The point of drinking would be pointless then. Cross grits his teeth, exhales harshly through his nose and picks up another book.

“Give it a rest, you three. We’re here to clean up, not to make more of a mess. You’re not setting a good example for Timcampy at all.”

Mana’s word is final. They spent the rest of the day rearranging books and papers. Trying to read the ruined script that had smudged to blotches of dark ink due to Tim’s spit, it took longer than expected.

After hours of cleaning the group stops. Having Mana smooth talk Allen into taking a break, it’s then when Cross’s day takes a turn for the worst.

“You’re kidding me.”

Nea had taken one look at the drink in Cross’s hand and burst out into a violent fit of laughter. Mana had joined in, smiling so hard his cheeks had ached while Allen took a sip of his tea and asked Cross if the wine had not been to his taste.

“You’re the worst. I hate you.”

The glass of water, which had previously been wine, in his hand had been left untouched.

Cross knew he shouldn’t have gotten drunk that night. Shouldn’t have let himself get involved with either Campbell twin or the scholar of magic which had been following them.

But impulsive control is all he lacks, so he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Neither should they have been when he barraged in last night.

_„You’re annoying as hell, so stop your bitching and keep each other company, you menace to society.”_

He’d thrown Timcampy at Nea’s head after kicking the door open and swaying on his feet. Target hitting its mark, Nea had tumbled off the couch. Everything had been fine.

The sight of Timcampy chomping down on Nea’s hair had been priceless. The only clear thing Cross remembers from that night.

* * *

 

_Tim had taken one glance at Nea’s hair as it bounced with the movement before chomping down on a lock of hair. Silence had fallen over the room as Nea froze. Tim continued to chew on the lock of hair as Allen put his book down. Eyes wide behind his glasses, none of them dared to move._

_The spell of motionless is broken as Nea shrieked. A shrill sound high enough to shatter glass._

_“Bad Tim! Bad!” Nea tried to tug Tim off with no success as he ran around the room. “Get off, Timcampy! Don’t just stand there, help me!”_

_“You’d need to stand still for that, brother!”_

_“It’s trying to eat me bald, how the hell am I supposed to stay calm, Mana? Have you seen the teeth of this thing?!”_

_“Running around like a headless chicken won’t help.”_

_Mana got up to help while Cross had burst into laughter. Even Allen couldn’t hide his smile behind the cover of his book as Nea flayed around the room, shouting at the top of his lungs._

_“If he breaks anything, I’ll put it on your tab, Cross.”_

_“Get off, get off, get off!”_

_“Whatever,” Cross snorted, lips pulled into a smirk as he leaned back, getting more comfortable in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. “Have I told you that I’ve given Tim the ability to record everything?”_

_“You did what!?”_

_Nea’s outrage of a scream is interrupted by him tripping, falling to the floor as Allen’s shoulder start to shake with suppressed laughter. The book entirely forgotten at this point, Allen’s eyes seem to dance behind his round spectacles which gave away his amusement._

_Mana was by his brother’s side the instant he saw the first sight of blood trickling down his nose._

* * *

 

“Tim, stop that, that tickles.”

_Damn you._

Nea is annoying. Which had been the reason Cross had been drunk and creating Timcampy in the first place. But staring at the easy smile on his face as he scolds Tim he finds it hard to hold a grudge.

“What has got you smiling like an idiot?”

Allen throws him a knowing look. Cross is quick to morph his face into his usual glare.

“Nothing. Shut the hell up and mind your own business.”

“You’re growing soft.”

Unwilling to respond Cross turns away from Allen to search for his pack of cigarettes. He knows he won’t find them, not inside Allen’s study at least, but it gives him an opportunity to escape. He’ll take it. It’s not like Allen expects an answer. Not when he already seems to know them all.

There’s laughter behind his back, Mana’s voice chiding his brother and he can feel Allen shake his head and roll his eyes. But there’s no need to turn around.

Not when he knows these moments will be captured by Timcampy.

Only years later with footprints made off blood and with ghosts haunting his heels will Cross think back to this moment as he watches wisps of smoke vanish into the night. Bitterness curling inside his lungs and the right side of his face aching. Only then will he allow his thoughts to roam free.

_I shouldn’t have made you at all. I hate you._

A wooden chip secured inside a small box weighing heavy inside his pocket. He crushes the but of his cigarette underneath his boot as he walks off into the night. A mission to fulfil and a promise to keep.


End file.
